Institute for Risk and Regulatory Research to Launch at University of Manchester

On 29 November, representatives of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the University of Manchester announced their intent to launch the Thomas Ashton Institute for Risk and Regulatory Research, a world-class hub for health and safety learning, training and research as well as expertise in risk management and regulation. Researchers at the Ashton Institute plan to draw knowledge from four decades worth of incident investigations and risk assessments to ensure that costly and dangerous workplace accidents are not repeated in the future. The Institute also plans to benefit industry by making their research publicly accessible.

Research at the Ashton Institute will fall into five categories:

1. Engineering - industrial processes and major hazards;

2. Human Factors - importance of people in a safe workplace;

3. Health - importance of workplace on populations;

4. Data - use of data to better understand health and safety; and

5. Risk - the cumulative probability of outcomes.

Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell, president and vice chancellor of the University of Manchester, said, "This is an excellent partnership [with HSE] that has the ability to develop, transform and shape health and safety research and policy and expertise for years to come."

Read more here.